Rug, mat, or other covering and method of making the same.



F. W. TULLY. ummnoomsacovemws,AND METHOD OFM/KING THE SAME. PPLp/-'IONFILED JAN. 19, 1915. 1 ,2.235538. Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

ne f Y y l (A) n VM @lowroekgg -To all 'whom z'may concern: i

Be it known that. I, FRANCIS W. TULLY, aA citizen of the United States,and resident of Brookline, in lthe county of Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new anduse'ful Improvements in Rugs, Mats,yor other Coverings and Methods of Making the tion. This inventionrelates to rugs, mats, carpets and other coverings, one object of myinvention being to prevent slippage of such an article whenplaced on aslippery surface such as a polished floor, as well as topro-v vide meanswhereby the rugs, etc., are made tolie fiat upon the floor, andto'resist their tendency to wrinkle or curl.

Y Such coverings in use, but especially mats andrugs intended forfloor-coverings, are 2Q renderedV of less than `their full utility whenfastened to the floor or other surface, and are the frequent cause ofaccidents to 'per-y sons stepping on them when not fastened. i Variousmethods and devices have heretofore been resorted to for: preventingyslippage, but all such devices of which lI` am failure of any generaluse of such devices. Metaldevices attached to thel rug for engage'- mentwith the floor are injurious to the floor when not intended for adefinite place on the limit the usefulness Aof the rug or mat except inthat place, and prevent random placing ,of

the rug so as to avoid .destructive wear at en marts only thereof. Thein etal fastening itself,`of whatever form, makes a projection under therug `above which destructive'wear takes place rapidly. Rubber. patches-,gr 40 patches of rubber cl'oth, sometimes fastened on theunder surfaceof the rug,`while free permitting the ru which the surface of the rugwears off. in use, besides being ineffective unless so large andfrequent'as to be too expensive for ordinary use. I attribute the lackof' effect of rubber-cloth and the like to the insufficiently yieldingand insufficiently sticky surface of such materials, which Will-not holdagainst a sharp lateral strain unless subjected to considerablepressure, as by being stepped upon directly over the patch bya person,56 walking .on the rug. The mere weight of the Same, of which thefollowing is a 'specifica- H ject a part of the covering to which itisap-` plied above the remainder thereof, so as to aware have defectsfully accounting for the loor, and when intended for a definite placefrom objectionable damage tothe floor and.

.to be moved about, in*- variably present ridges or projections abovelUNITED STATES vPAKIEN'J? OFFICE. 1

rnANcIs w.' TULLY, or Bnooxnnm, MASSACHUSETTS.

`i nUG, mar, on ornnn covnnnie AND METHOD or MAKING 'man sans.

Specication-of Letters Patent. y Patented AAp13'24, 1917, Applicationled January 19, 1916. SerialNo. 73,045. i

rug is usually l insuiiicient to cause such patches to adhere and becomeeffective.

. 'One object of my invention is t'o `provide an attachment for suchcoverings `which will be free from the-disadvantages mentioned. Anotherobject is to provide such a covering with a readily attached frictionalholding surface which will not 'materially procause local wear, andwhich shall be adapted for frictionally holding rugs of'a soft texture,such as oriental or tu ted pile rugs of -various' orirregular patternsor structuresy .of fabric.

Another object isto provide a structure adapted to adhere to a supportby the mereweightof the fabric to which it is applied, and other objectsare to providean addition to existing fabrics for the -above and otherpurposes adapted to be applied rapidly and with economy of time and ma'-.terials v In the accompanying drawings, 'Figure 1 is a schematicsection through a fabric illustrating one form of my invention.;

Fig. 2 is 'an under plan view of' a rug comprising one application of myinvention;

Fig. 3 is an underplan view of anoriental rug illustrating anotherlapplication thereof;

Fig. 4 is a schematic section of anAX- minster 'cai'petfabricillustrating another embodiment'ofmy invention; and Fig. 5. shows myinvention in connection .with a fabric o f the ingrain type. Referringnowto Fig. 1, the fabric therein shown comprises warps 1 and a knottedweft pile 2, being typical of oriental and 'othertufted pile fabrics,wherein the soft yarn of the ornamental pile surface reaches the'backand forms the surface of the fabric which restsupon the floor or othersupport therefor. Fabricsof other types, such as Axminster fabrics, Fig.4, in which stufer yarns are used' to give body aresometiinesl treatedwith a lue or starch size or other stifening material, but fabrics ofthe class above mentioned are not. customarily so treated.

For the purposes of my resent invention, I first apply a coating a aptedto become adherent to or incorporated by a shallow penetration only withall or portions only of the back face of the fabric. As illus-y 110trated in Fig. 2, lines 3 forming closed rectangular figures, forinstance, may be applied to the back of therug. These lines are formedby padding, stenciling or painting with a brush, or by other suitablemeans of applying the sizing material, the result being an adherent,non-absorbent coating 4, as illustrated in Fig. l, at the places Wherethe coating 4 is applied.

In some cases an in the treatment of some fabrics I may apply thecoating 4 continuously upon theback surface of the rug or other fabric.

One vpracticable coating comprises an aqueous solution of gluesuliiciently stiff to prevent much penetration of the cloth to Which itis applied, but I prefer a relatively stiff solution of rubber innaphtha or other volatile solvent, sparingly applied, or an alcoholic orother non-aqueous solution of certaingums or other colloids such as pineresin, tragacanth or other commercial gums.

One purpose of the coating 4 is to fill the interstices of the back faceof. the lfabric to prevent absorption into the fabric of a subsequentsticky coating, Which purpose'vvill be carried out When the application1s of.

any composition ofV matter furnishing a coat rendering the back of thefabric impermeable to another superposed coating after the first orsizing coating 4.is dried or set. I may, for instance, make av coating 4of an inert substance such yas celluloid, using azsolution in acetone,or employ any other suitable varnish or plastic to form a layerresisting penetration into the fabric of. the

rug of a liquid or semi-liquid adhesive coating to be applied over thecoating 4, continuously or at places only, to enable the rug or otherfabric to adhere to the floor or other support. I 'Wish to emphasize theimportance of the coating 4, since I have found that Without such an,application it is diiiicult and commercially impracticable to apply asticky coating in sufficient volume for my purpose Without causing it topenetrate to and spoil the face of the fabric, or to be Wastefullyabsorbed, or to affect the texture of the fabric detrimentally. n

Rugs of the type mentioned are improved as articles of use and Wear bythe applica tion of such a coating 4, which' has the effect ofpreventing llongitudinal or transverse elasticity of the rug, Withoutmaterially affecting its iiexibility.

'I now apply upon the sized area in a Huid' canized ummy substancehaving the quality of adheslon Without complete attachment to polishedsurfaces. The solvent mentioned may be replaced by other suitablesolvents" such as carbon tetrachlorid or, in the case of crude rubber,and preferably, a solvent comprising two parts of naphtha to one part ofcarbon tetrachlorid may be employed, thcrubber being dissolved in thesolvent until the solution is in the-condition of yfree-flowing paint. x

In some cases I find that the objects of my invention may be attained bypainting a coating 4 of the adhesive solution above mentioned on theback of the rug or other fabric Without previous treatment, theprocedure in that case being first to stretch the rug or other fabric,and then to give it a light, continuous coat of the adhesive substance,Which is permitted to dryl While the rug remains stretched. A secondcoat 5 suitable to adhere to the ioor of the ad hesive substance may'now be applied in larger quantities Without danger of penetrating thefabric of the rug so completely as to affect its Wear surface. A Thesecond coat may be applied continuously or, if desired, may be appliedin a pattern such as that shown in Fig. 2.

In some cases I prefer, as illustrated in Fig. 3, to apply the coatings4 and 5, or

the coating 5 only on the elements of the tile non-aqueous solvent, arug so treated bef i ing capable of being Washed repeatedlyv Withoutremoving the adhesive coatings or damaging their quality of adhesion.

When a .rug so treated is placed onthe l fioor, adhesion by its ownWeight is sufficient to prevent slippage when the rug is stepped on.Other advantages follow, for instance the prevention of curlin of thecorners, the-coating having a mar ed effect to prevent folds or curlingat the ed es. If desired, lines of sewing stitches 7 ying transverse tothe edges may be applied at the corners of the rug'prior to coating withthe siz-A ing or the adhesive coatings 4 and 5, forthe completeprevention of curling atthe corners.

When the coatin has been applied, the solvent is driven o Yby exposureto dry -air or to heat, or both. The residual coatin 5 retainsindefinitely the quality of adhesion to surfaces such as glass, marble,tiling, and polished or varnished wood under very thereof an adherentslight pressure such as the 'weight of the fabric, and I find rugs, andmats made by the above described method tobe safe against slipping insituations in which any of the structures of the present art ofv which Iam aware, except positive fastening means, are liable to slip.

lVhat I claim is:

l.y A rug or mat having on one face a sizing coating and a superposedadherent plastic coating of an adhesive substance.

2. A rug cr mat having on one face an adlierent'coating incorporated byshallow penetration only with one face thereof, andan adhesive coatingsuperposed upon and plastically adherent to said first-mentioned coatling. A

3. A rug or mat having on one face an applicd pattern or figurecomprising areas of a sizing coating and a plastically adherentsuperposed adhesive substance.

4. A rug or mat having on one face a coating comprised of an adherentsubstance insoluble in water, and an adhesive coating plasticallyapplied to and superposed upon said adherent coating.

5. A rug or mat having an adherent sizing coating on one face thereof ofa sub'- stance insoluble in water, and an adhesive coatingof a rubbercompound remaining sticky when dry. l

6. A rug or mat having on the back face sizing coating and an adhesivecoating adapted to clin to a 'polished floor orother support, am?composed` of a gummy substance remaining as a -residue after theevaporation of a volatile solvent. l n

7. The method of renderingrugs, mats or other coverings adherent withrespect to a supporting surface, comprising first coating .the back of asuitable textile fabric with a sizing coating of a consistency adaptedto adhere without penetrating to the front sur- I face of said fabric,

drying said coating, and then applying in a plastic condition a coatingof a sticky substance dissolved in a volai plastic condition a coatingof an ad esive containing solvent.

9. The method of treating rugs, mats or other coverings to cause them tobe adapted to cling totheir supporting surface, comprising firsttreating the back of a suitable fabric to render it impermeable, thenapplying in a plastic condition an adherent coatrubber dissolved in avolatile ing of a sticky substance dissolved in a vola-V ltile solvent,and then evaporating the solvent.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts this seventeenth day of January1916.

FRANCIS W. 'TULLYZv

